On Death Row [A Jibaku Shounen Hanako-Kun Fanfic]

The Hellspawn

How long has it been...? One, two, three months? [Name] had completely lost track of time since she isolated herself from the regularity of her previous life. Now she was emerged in a world where multieyed, amalgamated nightmares, centipede-covered Satan spawns, perverted, teenage boys in mafia costumes and stuck-up, psychotic, mutilation-fetish phantom foxes were all trying to kill eachother. Couldn't possibly get any worse, could it? How naive of her to think so.

Marketed as a debt payed to a friend, her goofy, murderous partner figured the optimal way of keeping her sanity in check would be a "bonding hour" with the apparitions they'd curretly... Faced? Purified? There really was no gurantee for their safety, considering the fact the dimensions separating apparitions from humans had been disturbed, perhaps even irreversibly. Not that it concerned her, these were just her conclusions from Hanako's tangents.

She didn't care, she really didn't. However, for whatever reason, she listened. She always listened. She preferred baiting his thoughts out of him, than him not talking at all. In the beginning, he was secretive about anything regarding his past. Too secretive, in fact. Whenever she pined for an answer for his former life, he would respond so vaguely, or not at all and just give her a garbage, unrelated reply. He never acknowledged her bolder, crucial questions such as how he died or what his family was like. He would just give one-lined, misleading responses such as: "My free-trial expired." or "I'll tell you when you're older.."

After her first targeted murder, though, things started to shift. [Name] tasted the sweet blood of revenge for the first time in years, she'd missed that feeling. With Hanako's supervision, her plan was executed smoothly and the reaping had begun. She discovered she didn't need his physical body present, since this sealed bond was shared between them. She could hear him whisper from far away, guiding her through the traps and down the vents, until her first target had been pinned to a wall... Well, more like nailed to the wall with the sharp edges of a crucifix. It was a work of art. Through her talent, murder trancended into a different form. A cruel redemption, a cleansing foam of progressive agony, a poem.

However, the burdens of a cosmic change and the crumbled remains of two worlds, hanging by a single string, started feeling heavy on her back. Having a purpose was a burden, fate was a lie, no matter what change you bring, it'll be overwritten by a stronger product beyond your understanding. But those jabs on her back wouldn't go away, the voices of those apparitions wouldn't keep quiet and the call of the void was breaking her spirit. Was that what nearing the end of your prophecy felt like...?

No.

She wanted to be a part of something greater. This was her opportunity to prove to herself how wrong that type of mindset had been. And, perhaps, this "preserving balance" bullshit with Hanako would give her the chance to... Forgive herself. A new canvas, a new brush, a new work of art.

"Hey, [Name], what are we painting today?" Hanako sang out in enthusiasm, his amber orbs flashy and animated with a smile that stretched wide to his ears. She'd been giving him art courses as payback for his astronomy lessons, which he forced her to participate in. Unfortunately for her, Hanako seemed to have developped a passion for art, so this didn't feel like a punishment to him. Quite the opposite actually. Inflicting mental suffering on others, then being rewarded for it with free painting classes? He was here for it! "Let's see... Hm, didn't you use to have an obsession with the moon, when you were young?" She questioned, fixing her eyes on the blankness of the canvas. Hanako's eyes shunk and he trembled a bit in discomfort. "...Where did you..?-" "Tsuchigomori." Hanako was abruptly cut off by a paintbrush being shoved into his mouth. That's right... He'd forgotten about his blabbermouth of a former teacher and how he'd trusted him with [Name] to break the seal of his yorishiro... 'Damned sensei..' Hanako furrowed his eyebrows and received a hard slap on the back of his head for it, almost chocking on the brush. "Ah-!Ugh- Heck-..! Bl-eh... W-What the h-hell was that for?!" He whimpered with a confused frown, while coughing continuously. She gripped his head roughly, like a bowling ball, giving him a stern and offended expression. "You should be grateful to have had the sketchy spider as your teacher, Hanako-kun. He cares about you, in his own weird way... So don't be a complete dumbass. Better put your soul into this piece, or I'll be using your head as a plunger in the toilets tonight!" She roared aggressively causing Hanako to flinch and cower. "Y-Yes ma'am..." He wailed and hunched over his canvas.